Top Tampa Bay prospect Carson Williams had two hits, including a two-run homer, in his major league debut, and the Rays grounded the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 10-6 on Friday night.
After St. Louis scored five unanswered runs to trail just 7-6, the 22-year-old shortstop unleashed a 410-foot shot to center in the eighth to give the Rays the breathing room they needed to snap a four-game losing streak.
The San Diego native was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs.
Jake Mangum went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs, a run and a stolen base. Josh Lowe added three hits in the Rays’ 16-hit attack.
Brandon Lowe, Tristan Gray and Junior Caminero homered.
In his Tampa Bay home debut, starter Adrian Houser (7-4) tossed 6 1/3 innings for his first club win. He allowed four runs on six hits while striking out and walking two.
The Rays roughed up St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (6-10), who was pounded for five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings. He fanned one, walked one and surrendered two homers.
Nathan Church and Willson Contreras each produced homers in two-hit outings and drove in a pair for the Cardinals.
For the second straight game in the series, the Rays plated the opening run in the first inning as Brandon Lowe crushed his 25th homer, a 428-footer, but St. Louis evened the score in the second on Yohel Pozo’s RBI single.
After Williams reached on a throwing error in his first career at-bat. Gray banged a homer two batters later for a 3-1 lead.
Mikolas’ struggles continued in the third as Williams recorded his first career hit and RBI with a hard single to short against a drawn-in infield. Bob Seymour made it 5-1 with an RBI single.
Mangum’s second double in the fourth increased it to a six-run advantage as Brandon Lowe and Josh Lowe scored.
After Thomas Saggese’s run-scoring fielder’s choice in the sixth, Church and Contreras homered to cut the deficit to 7-6 after a four-run seventh.
After Williams’ long ball, Caminero smoked his team-leading 36th homer in the eighth to finish the scoring.